UFC 112: Indefensible
by ufc4 on Apr 11, 2010 8:11 PM EDT
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Yesterday was an embarrassment to the sport of MMA. From Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie staging one of the least competitive Ultimate Kickboxing matches in recent memory to BJ Penn failing to show up at the arena to Anderson Silva repeating his completely lackluster performances from UFC's 90 and 97 the entire event made me ashamed to be a fan.
I'll start with Hughes-Gracie. This was a fight between 2 legends of the sport, the most dominating WW champ ever vs. anyone with the last name Gracie is gonna excite anyone who has an appreciation for the history of MMA. These men have amazing ground-games (Hughes with his wrestling and G&P and Gracie with his JJ skills) , unfortunately they didn't spend even one second of this fight on the ground (other than the several times Renzo was knocked down by leg kicks) , instead they just stood there exchanging crappy punches with Hughes kicking the shit out of Renzo's lead leg the entire fight. Did I mention Renzo gassed approximately halfway through the match? Between this fight and Rolles Gracie's weak showing at UFC 109 the UFC needs to think long and hard before they put anyone with the last name Gracie back inside the octagon.
Next came the LW title bout, BJ Penn vs. Frank (Frankie?) Edgar. Between the weak showing by Penn and the horrible judging (50-45 Edgar, seriously?) this whole fight was a mess. During the fight the announcers mentioned that Penn and his camp had been in Abu Dhabi for two weeks already but you sure couldn't tell from his performance. From the moment he walked out of the dressing room he didn't look like the same Penn that goes into the cage looking for blood. He just seemed completely disinterested from the start. All that being said I still think he won the fight. He landed more punches, stuffed almost every takedown attempt, and basically did whatever he wanted in there. Edgar fought a good fight and caused more damage to BJ than any other LW in recent memory and for that he should be commended but he didn't win the fight.
And finally came the debacle that was Maia-Silva. I'm not sure I can add much to everything that has already been said about this "fight", other than I hear a lot of people talking about how much Maia came forward against Silva and all I can say is coming forward does not constitute fighting. Sure, he didn't fall on his ass trying to pull guard the whole fight but he also refused to engage almost the entire time other than during the final round. Maia is almost as much to blame for the lack of fighting as Anderson is.
Overall the entire card just left a very sour taste in my mouth. The men inside the octagon yesterday showed a lack of respect for the fans, the sport, and themselves and they should be ashamed. I can't wait til May 8th when two warriors named Lyoto Machida and Shogun Rua can remind everyone what it means to be a mixed martial artist.
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Hey man Munoz Grove was excellent and I mean an EXCELLENT FUCKIN FIGHT. Also the Dos Anjos fight was very very good.
Matt Hughes Renzo really sucked. If I wanted to watch two bums slug it out I would went to the bar Saturday night. I want to see Matt Hughes wrestling vs Renzo BJJ. But sometimes things like that cancel each other out so I understand.
BJ Frankie great fight wrong decision.
AS amazement for 3 rounds absolutley utter domination. For 2 rounds that were boring I am not going to cry. To see AS do that for 3 rounds was enjoyment and I appreciate watching this guy fight every single time. Cant be perfect everytime.
I agree that Munoz-Grove was great but by the end of the night after three straight fights going to decision (that’s 13 rounds and 65 minutes of fighting for those scoring at home) did anyone really remember it?
I don’t think BJ-Frankie was a great fight, it was competitve but far from a great fight.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first 2 rounds of the Silva-Maia fight, but by the end of the 5th I was disgusted.
Gracie/Hughes did not go to decision. But it felt like it.
UFC is to Larry Fitzgerald as Strikeforce is to Plaxico Burress. One is the most dominant in their league, while the other shoots itself in the midst of progress.
Shit Renzo was winning that fight until he gassed. Matt Hughes stand up is embarassingly bad. It always has been\.
"Gassed"
I’d say that he was half gassed/ half incapacitated by those leg kicks. Hughes may have piss- poor standup, but he’s always had good leg kicks.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture- "The Best Never Rest!"
Go Gonzaga! G-O-N-Z-A-G-A
by ElliotMatheny on Apr 11, 2010 11:27 PM EDT up reply actions
*Always
I wouldn’t say from day- 1, but i’ve noticed his leg kicks since the 2’nd BJ fight.
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture- "The Best Never Rest!"
Go Gonzaga! G-O-N-Z-A-G-A
by ElliotMatheny on Apr 11, 2010 11:27 PM EDT up reply actions
People forget Maia really did shit until 4 and 5
The first 2.5 rounds of that fight, Silva might have been goofing around but he was the only 1 doing anything.
The last 2.5 rounds of that fight, Maia finally started doing something but that’s when Silva decided to go all Kalib Starnes on us.
The overall card was NOT THAT BAD.
Munoz/Grove, Etim/Dos Anjos and Davis/Gustaffson were all entertaining. And I enjoyed the Penn/Edgar fight. I enjoyed watching the tide slowly turn. Do I agree with the decision? No, I had Penn winning 48-47, but it was a close fight and I can see how Edgar got the decision.
Silva/Maia was horrid, and Gracie/Hughes was kind of sad, but the rest was good.
Not a great night, but the good fights saved it from being a disaster.
come on
it was ok for what is was the crowning of a new light champ silva acting out yes it was a week card the only really big fight was BJ silva should of got down with belford but still a week card but over all ok
despite the horrible scoring for the penn fight, and the ultra weird championship rounds on the Silva fight,
I really enjoyed the card… The Munoz fight was really really fun to watch (especially since we were all Filipinos watching), the Dos Anjos bout was not bad, and the Anaconda Choke by Mr. Wonderful was indeed, very wonderful…
Hughes and Gracie had an ultimate kickboxing match, but I didn’t find it as atrocious as some people did. Gracie was winning the striking battle on the first round, but Hughes stuck with a good game plan and invested in legkicks that Renzo decided he didn’t want to check. I also lol’ed when Renzo asked hughes to help him get up.
I had fun watching it even if it ended at 4am, and maybe it also had to do with me being in the minority of the fans who werent outraged about Silva that much.
by Anton Tabuena on Apr 12, 2010 4:22 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
This
I’ve had a hard time posting about the even today because I just can’t seem to find anywhere that people aren’t going to one extreme or the other. I thought it was a really, really good card. Was it perfect? No, not hardly. The first couple of fights were amazing.
Had Renzo been aggressive in the first round I thought he could have won, Matt didn’t like getting hit. Kudos to Hughes for working a great leg-kick strategy. I don’t think Renzo gassed as much as the leg kicks took a serious toll.
by Chris Barton on Apr 12, 2010 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions
I thought it was a really, really good card.
Seriously? I thought it was garbage. When Anderson Silva and BJ Penn fight you expect to see something special, they fought for a combined 50 minutes on Saturday and neither of them did anything exceptional.
Yea, seriously
I enjoyed every fight, some more than others obviously.
Frankly, if you don’t think what Anderson was able to do in the first two rounds of his fight was exceptional I think we’ll have a disconnect that won’t be able to be sorted out it terms of what makes fighting great.
A.S. is the RJJ of MMA (wow… lots of acronyms) and RJJ is my favorite.
BJ, on the other hand, didn’t deliver his usual performance. It happens.
by Chris Barton on Apr 13, 2010 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions
The first two rounds of the Silva fight were entertaining but “exceptional”? No, not against a guy like Maia who has almost no standup game.
He had enough standup to beat Miller in a standup fight. Which is not to say Maia is a world-beater standing up, but that’s hardly “almost no standup game”.
The fact that Silva could do the things he did in the first two rounds to ANYONE in the UFC is astounding. It shouldn’t even be possible.
by Chris Barton on Apr 13, 2010 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions
BJ lost. Get over it. He definitely did not “do whatever he wanted in there”. Take a look at Bj’s face after the fight, even he knew that he had lost. I’m glad that all of his fan boys are crying for him because for once BJ isn’t crying over the loss.
Be a man, not a child-Phil Anselmo
Well I’m not a BJ fanboy, I actually don’t care for the guy at all, doesn’t change the fact that he won the fight. But I guess I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about, along with the 3 guys over at Sherdog who scored the fight for BJ, or Brent here at BE, or the guy who scored the fight over at MMA Mania.
Agree to disagree, all I know is the three judges at cageside all had it for Edgar. There is a reason why they are cageside and not in front of a computer like the others mentioned. Just because someone works for a website doesn’t make their opinion any more valuable than yours or mine.
Be a man, not a child-Phil Anselmo
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